Evolution of carbon based surfaces under bombardment: Examining the steady-state surface properties and the effect of potential

Bombardment of deuterated amorphous carbon (a-C:D) and graphite systems with 20 eV D atoms has been performed using molecular dynamics simulations and two classical reactive potentials, to examine the effect of initial system choice and potential energy function on the properties of the steady-state surface. While a-C:D structures evolve monotonically towards impact-modified surfaces, the graphite system exhibits layer-by-layer, cyclical modification and evolves towards a steady state different from its amorphous counterpart. Longer-ranged potentials also have a noticeable effect on the interfacial structure and surface modifications under impact.